Navigating the landscape of prioritization with limited time and resources is a daily challenge we all face. As marketers, we are called to focus on multiple client segments at all times. One such client segment that we should never neglect is our internal clients, such as staff, decision makers, and our natural corporate first cousins ‘sales’. I point out the need to serve the internal client, because when you are tracking your dashboard of KPI’s, it’s easy to fall prey to underserving internal clients. I’m urging you to be mindful of your internal clients and avoid neglect, which can lead to quietly kept animosities.
Marketing is expanding into more areas of business than ever before, as a result, marketing teams get called upon when it’s time to create or support internal activities such as communications, sales promotions, budget planning, technology decisions and more. When the requests are made, it can seem like one more thing to add to the pile, but I urge you to see the requests as opportunities. When you shift your perspective, it’s easier to see the benefit of giving ample consideration to our internal clients and serving their requests as you would with an external prospect, customer, or influencer.
I’m not talking about doing someone else’s job or accepting every copy or design suggestion that lands in your inbox.
Serving the internal client with excellence is an investment in creating a positive perception of the marketing team, which long-term eases friction, builds good will and creates an environment of collaboration with other departments. To be clear, I’m not talking about doing someone else’s job or accepting every copy or design suggestion that lands in your inbox. I’m suggesting that as you consider requests and prepare your responses that you do so with equal parts logic, empathy, and reason.
You should also keep a running tab of ‘yeses’ versus ‘noes’, so that you know when it’s time to say no or when it’s time to throw a bone and say yes. Invest in serving the internal clients of your organization and you will reap returns on your investments down the road.
While you’ve written this speaking specifically to the discipline of marketing, it is generally applicable across displines in all manner of business. I appreciate your consideration of the internal client/customer and the understanding that essentially you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar (smile). This kind of consideration doesn’t just make for a potentially better bottom line in terms of dollars and cents, it makes for a happier work place., which just makes, well, sense.
Thanks for the comment @doctorsos. Far too often, we treat the internal requests we receive as inhibitors to our outward facing goals. It’s critical that we look at internal requests as opportunities to build engagement and contribute to an enriching culture.